RE: Digital TV experience
I always get better reception on the digital channels. IF I cannot get digital, analog doesn't come in good enough to watch or not at all. My televison has a built in digital tuner.
I keep a compass in the RV and use it with my GPS to determine where the closet town is at in to relation to me and aim the antenna towards town. I almost always get a few digital channels. If I can't get digital, the analogs are not worth watching and I just watch something that I had previously recorded on my DVR. I normally keep about 220 hours worth of programming on my DVR.
RE: New law in California - text messaging while driving
As an Astronaut, I'm used to performing very complex tasks, while in space at zero gravity. Driving while talking on the phone, chewing gum, shaving and a few other thing at the same time, is a piece of cake :)
RE: New law in California - text messaging while driving
IMO Talking or Texting should both be illegal while driving and should carry very high fines for a first offense and loss of license for a second offense.
If your going to drive, just drive. If you want to talk, pull over and quit endangering innocent peoples lives.
RE: does everyone want an Airstream?
No, I do not want one or think that I ever will. Don't like the shape, look or the price.
But, one of my buddies has one and loves it.
Like someone else said, if that is what you really like and want, then by all means get it! Get what you want, and not what people think you should!
RE: Who Is Confused???
It's demeaning to the RV lifestyle.....especially fulltimers. If one can't afford to stay in a campground, they shouldn't have purchased an rv.
Oh, give me a stinkin' break. The main reason we overnight in a Walmart lot, or rest area, or truck fuel parking area? Because we're ON THE MOVE and DON'T want to be bothered with wandering off the freeway two miles to find an RV park, unhitching the toad to back into a campsite, and dealing with a park office that's been closed for three hours by the time we roll in.
If we're going to stay and see things in the area, we find an RV park. If we're just rolling onwards in the morning never to return, (or maybe not until years later) then to heck with RV parks. (And their fees)
Some people are just clueless and do not have the brains power to understand the convenience of just being able to stop overnight while in transit. They also do not get that fact, that Walmart likes for RVers to spend the night in their parking lots, since most of us end up spending about $100 in their store every time we spend the night in their lots.
It's a waste of time to try to convince them of the convenience of being able to stop at any time of the night. They just do not get it. Let them stay in the RV parks. More room for us at Walmart :-)
RE: Blue ox W/D hitch
I have a Blue OX Hitch and it tows fine. You do not mention what size TT you have, your tongue weight or what you have the sway bars torqued to, or the rating of the bars. My hitch didn't have lock washers on the sway bars and they would get loose. Once I put some lock washers, they stay torqued. I currently have mine torqued to 50 pounds and I'm thinking of bringing them up to 60 pounds. I think they come torqued at 40 pounds. If you have a heavy trailer, 40 pounds may be too low. Maximum torque for the sway bars is 90 pounds.
I only feel a little sway when semis pass me, but cars are not a problem.
My trailer weighs about 6200 pounds with all our stuff, including a full tank of water and the bikes on a hitch in the TT. My tongue weight is 500, a little light for 6200 pounds, but it tows fine.
RE: Suv vs Truck
Sounds to me like you will be happier with an SUV. I have a similar weight trailer and I'm very happy pulling it with a 2008 Nissan Armada that has a towing capacity of 9000 pounds. My TT weighs in at about 6200 pounds with a full tank of fresh water.
I carry plenty of stuff in the back of the Armada and have never missed having a truck.
RE: He hit my trailer I can't believe it
I would certainly file a police report. They will get it straightened out in a few minutes. His insurance company will fix it!
RE: Starcraft Air - Ducted or Not? Importance???
My AC isn't ducked. I upgraded to the 15,000 BTU on my TT and find it really loud! I often wonder if having a ducted model would have made it quieter.
I would listen to it and see if the noise level is okay for you. My TT is small, so not being ducted is not a problem from a cooling standpoint, but it sure is loud.
We are going to the Hershey PA RV show this Thursday and one of the things that I plan to do is listen to ducted AC and see if they are quieter.
RE: RV Stolen From Forest River - help please
Forest River should GIVE them a new replacement to let them continue their trip and just have them sign a waiver and contact their insurance company to pay for the lost directly to Forest River. The check from the insurance company will be the payment for the new trailer. It's the least that they can do, since it was stolen in their property.
Count me in as another lost customer of Forest River!
Pathetic Customer Service!!!!
RE: Maryland to Florida and $800 in gas
We are driving down, with our TT, to Fort Lauderdale from Frederick Maryland this Friday. I think that it will still be cheaper than flying and a lot more fun to be RVing!
Like someone else said, If you wanna play, you gotta pay! Vacations are never cheap, but they are great!!
Anyone try the SwivelWheel for towing a motorcycle?
Has anyone tried the Swivel Wheel tray for towing a motorcycle. It can be towed behind a TT without it being considered a triple tow, which is illigal in most states. This is suppose to be legal as long as you don't exceed thagt max combined length or 60 or 65 feet in most state.
http://www.cruiserlift.com/swivelwheel58.html
I really want to be able to take my motorcycle with me when I travel with my TT. I have a trailer for my motorcycle, but it would be considered a triple tow and illigal to use. So I can take the TT or MC, but not both.
This is my MC trailer, which I cannot pull behind my TT:
http://www.kendonusa.com/single_trailer.htm
RE: Anybody Canceling Trips Because Of Fuel Prices?
No, not cancelling any trips. We are leaving May 9th from Urbana Maryland to Fort Lauderdale Florida. Round Trip it's 2134 miles and we return May 26th. I'm sure that with local driving during that time, we will put in over 2600 or 2700 miles. We'll spend around $1200 for gas and $650 for campsites. I really don't count food, since we still have to eat back home and spend about the same when we travel. We don't eat in restaurant at home and we don't eat in them when we travel. All home cooking for us all the time. We don't do for money reasons, we just prefer what we cook over restaurant food.
The trip comes out to about $100 a day. You really can't go anywhere on vacation and spend less than that. 18 days for $1850, is well worth it. If we fly, get a hotel, and rent a car, it will cost a lot more!
Three more weeks to go, we can't wait.
RE: Rservation Cancellation Fees
If I want a particular site when I'm reserving, and it's not available till 4 days into my reservation, and then I want the change over to the site of my original choice, then it's two reservations. I'm inconveniencing them by moving from one site to another.
If I book a 10 day stay somewhere, and they put me in two different sites because one is not available for all 10 days, it should be one reservation. I'm the one being inconvenienced by moving from one site to another.
In my case I wanted a single site for 10 days, but they did not have one. Since I wanted to stay those exact 10 dates, I was forced to split the stay into two diffrent sites. Yes, it was an inconvenience to me, but I wanted the dates. It was not my choice that I wanted to switch to a different site after a few days. Thier reservation system should be able to accomodate that as a single reservation and not charge two cancellation fees.
I do not mind paying a cancellation fee, since I cancelled, I just do not like the idea of having to pay two.
Like I said, $10 is not a big deal to me, it's just the principal behind it that bothers me.
RE: Rservation Cancellation Fees
I am not real upset for having to pay an extra $10, and I'm sure that this won't be the last time that I will have to do it and no, it's not going to break me. I just feel that it's not fair to penalize someone for being willing to split their stay to two camp sites when a single camp site is not available fro the length of your stay. It is for a contiguous stay and if I had been able to make the reservation without having to switch camp sites, I would have paid a single cancellation fee. Ten day stay is ten days.
Although it had to be reserved with two reservation, it was for contiguous stay and only one fee should apply. I don't like the policy, but I just have to live with it. Their reservation system should allow for such stays when they cannot book you into a single site fro the duration of your stay.
I work on one of the largest hotel reservation systems in the world. When someone is looking for a specific rate, say AAA rate, and they are staying 10 nights, the first three nights have the AAA rate available, the next four nights it's not available, and for the last three nights it once again becomes available. We DO NOT make the customer book three separate reservations. We book it as one reservation with two different rates, six nights at AAA rate, and the other four nights at whatever rate is available and they select. They only have one reservation, and they only have to cancel one reservation, not three.
Although in the camping world, everyone seems to do it that way, I don't think that it's fair, nor should it be done that way.
Hey, with those extra $10 dollars, I could have driven extra couple of miles before running out of gas :)
Rservation Cancellation Fees
I recently made a reservation for a State park in the Florida Keys. I was planning to stay ten nights. I could not book a reservation at the same site for ten days, but I was able to book it by staying on one site for six days and four on another site in the same park.
My plans changed and I had to cancel my reservation. Florida State Parks considers this two reservations, even though it is a contiguous stay, and charge me two $10 cancellation fees. When I inquired about it, they stated that if you make a reservation for one month and have to break it into 5 different sites in order to stay, you have to pay 5 cancellation fees if you cancel.
I think that I should only have to pay one cancellation fee since it was really going to be one stay, but since the same site wasn't available, it had to split it into two sites.
Do you think this is a fair policy? I'm not sure if only Florida States Parks do this, or everyone and I just have to encounter it now.
RE: Snobby Campgrounds
Wouldn't you prefer that the snobby campers are all together in their own campground, rather than next to you?
Yea, until I become a snobb I wouldn't want to be around them :)
RE: Snobby Campgrounds
Did we resent being excluded.... you bet. But we knew our day would come and sure enough it has.
I agree with everything that lanerd said and feel about the same way, except the resentment part. It doesn't bother me one bit that I cannot get into certain places. I welcome the variety of places to stay. Although I'm not anti-children, I do prefer not having tons of them around. I myself don't frequent RV Resorts, but if I pay big bucks to stay in one, I would pick the one without kids. Others with kids, want Resort for kids, and that is why the variety exists.
RV park owners cannot satisfy everyone, but if they narrow who/what they accept, they will mostly likely keep more of thier customers satisfied and coming back. Each owner has the right to decide which type of RV park they want to run, and I appreciate the variety.
Don't let it bother you and just look for parks that allow what you like and have. Some day you may decide that you like those snoppy places just because they have certain rules that you have grown to like!
RE: Infrared Thermometer for Checking Tires?
I have the one that Camping World sells, it's a Micro Temp. Much more expensive, but it works great. I bought it on sale for about $45. I really didn't shop around and the cheaper ones are probably just as good or better.
Micro Temp Infrared Thermometer.
